GW Nursing Magazine Spring 2016

Policy: Fundamental to Nursing Care
DEBORAH E. TRAUTMAN, PhD, RN, FAAN
President and CEO, American Association of
Colleges of Nursing
SUZANNE MIYAMOTO, PhD, RN, FAAN
Senior Director of Government Affairs and
Health Policy, American Association of
Colleges of Nursing
The ability for nurses to
thoughtfully engage in public
policy discussions begins with a
strong foundation in the policy
process. For most citizens, our
first exposure to policy and
politics occurs in our formative
educational years—grade school
through high school. We learn
how a bill becomes a law and how
people are elected to represent
the public. When individuals
choose their career path, this
information may be set aside to
make room for the specialized
content of that field.
For nurses, this is often
the case. New recruits to the
profession quickly discern that
nursing science, theory and its
philosophy of caring will help
treat patients, their families and
the communities in which they
live. However, what is often
glossed over is the fundamental
role policy plays in a nurse’s
ability to provide care. Nearly
every aspect of the health care
delivery system is guided by policy,
whether at the institutional or
national level. These policies are
often crafted and implemented
without the expertise of nurses.
If our intent as nurses is to
truly provide the best possible
care in the most cost-effective,
accessible way, then we are doing
our patients a disservice by not
engaging in the policy process.
Schools of nursing face a
formidable challenge to prepare
nurses for practice in an evolving
health care system. New
discoveries, technologies and
complex disease processes make
it critical for faculty to stay
abreast of the current trends and
evidence, but more importantly,
to contribute to that body of
knowledge. This translates to
policy as well. Schools of nursing
must support their faculty
in their efforts to transform
health care by encouraging
them to incorporate policy into
their curriculum, research and
professional responsibilities.
Faculty can model for students
that nursing expertise does
not stay at the bedside or the
bench—it must reach the steps
of the Capitol as well. This is
how nurses will continue to
make an even larger impact on
enhancing our nation’s health.
The American Association of
Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is
committed to supporting our
member schools in achieving
this vision. AACN has invested
a number of resources and
created programs to help our
faculty, students and deans reach
new heights of professional
engagement in policy.
For more information, visit
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/
government-affairs. Preparing
nurses early to understand the impact
of their voice and expertise is vital to
improving health and health care.
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